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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812283">Nightswimming</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lallyloo/pseuds/lallyloo'>lallyloo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rhett &amp; Link</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Feelings, Kissing, M/M, Pining, vague allusions to homophobia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:49:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812283</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lallyloo/pseuds/lallyloo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhett kissed him once when they were teenagers and they never talked about it again. Now Link wants to talk about it.</p><p>Set during the filming in Buies Creek.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rhett McLaughlin &amp; Link Neal, Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nightswimming</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>lyrics are from the song "Nightswimming" by REM</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i></i></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <i>Nightswimming deserves a quiet night<br/>
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago<br/>
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows<br/>
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse<br/>
Still, it's so much clearer</i>
  </p>
  <p>
  <i></i>
</p>
  <p>
  <i></i>
</p>
  <p>
  <i>I forgot my shirt at the water's edge<br/>
The moon is low tonight</i></p>
</div><p> </p><p>It’s late in the day. The crew had finished their last shoot in Buies Creek that afternoon and Stevie insisted they have a celebratory dinner together before they’d have to catch their flights back to LA the next morning. For most of the day Link had felt a mild ache emanating from somewhere deep within him, like nostalgia mixed with something melancholy. He felt like he was reaching for something just out of his grasp.</p><p>The sun is getting ready to set when everyone starts packing up and Link finds a moment to pull Rhett aside and quietly ask “wanna go for another swim? Just us?”</p><p>Rhett nods with a smile. </p><p>After saying goodbye to the crew they climb into the rental car.  Rhett drives while Link stares out the window. All the places they pass seem familiar but also completely new at the same time. A few of the old buildings are gone and some new buildings have gone up. It seems like way too much green space is gone and some of their old haunts are now paved over.</p><p>They make small chat as they cross the river, talking about the day’s shoot, and Rhett pokes fun at Link’s high socks.</p><p>Link undresses down to his boxer briefs, and lowers his eyes when he realizes Rhett is stripping completely. Link looks up just as Rhett dives into the water. His body is larger now, still muscular but there are softer areas too which have come with age. His jaw is covered by a full beard, but for a moment when Link watches him resurface he sees Rhett at seventeen, strong and confident, so sure he’s got the world at his feet. Rhett was always the one to jump in first, always so certain that Link would follow him.</p><p>Link quickly strips off his boxer briefs and dives in. </p><p>They swim for awhile, chatting, and of all the things they’ve done today this feels the most familiar.</p><p>Link’s mind slips back to a similar evening from long ago. There was a sunset a lot like this one, and so much laughter. Link had said something and Rhett laughed so hard he wheezed, and wiped tears from his eyes, and before Link realized what was happening his face was in Rhett’s hands and a soft kiss was being placed on his lips. It was quick and sweet and before Link’s brain or body could react Rhett was moving away and it was over. They never talked about it again – whether out of fear, or judgement from their friends, or their parents, or God, Link never really knew. As the summer days grew shorter, Link had hoped Rhett would be brave enough to do it again. If he did, Link would’ve kissed him back. He would’ve gone along on that adventure too. He knew if Rhett had asked, his heart would’ve been Rhett’s forever. But it never happened. And then that summer was gone, replaced by the long shadows of autumn, and then the cold winter froze the river over.</p><p>Other summers followed, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye they both grew up, graduated, married, and had families. They made other commitments, and gave their hearts to other people.</p><p>Sometimes Link is sure he imagined it, and if it wasn’t for the tactile memory of the warmth of Rhett’s mouth and the roughness of his teenage stubble against Link’s chin, Link would’ve sworn it had only been a dream.</p><p>For a long time he wondered if Rhett ever thought about that night, or if it haunted him too. It used to call to Link sometimes, usually in those soft moments between waking and sleep, until he finally pushed it deep down, locking it away in that place in his heart reserved only for Rhett. He forced it back behind all the other Rhett memories, so vast and all-encompassing that eventually it became easy to forget that one tiny moment when it was hidden behind all the other little moments from their 35 years together.</p><p>But sometimes his mind still finds it. Usually when he’s least expecting it, like when they’re creating together and Rhett is doubled over with laughter over something Link has said or done. He remembers the boy who nearly died of laughter and then lost his mind and kissed his best friend in the river. Or when they’re filming and Rhett’s face gets a little too close and a bit of stubble grazes Link’s cheek. He remembers the scratch of Rhett’s chin against his as he pressed the softest kiss to Link’s mouth.</p><p>Or that afternoon, when they were back at the swimming hole for the first time in who knew how many years. Link’s feet at the jumping-off point, the familiarity of the river on his skin, watching Rhett dive in, and hearing his laughter -- being together in that place that meant so much to them both and loomed large in their memories for reasons beyond that one little kiss. Suddenly that one tiny memory had come tumbling out of that hidden place in Link’s heart, beaming so clearly and brightly Link knew he wouldn’t be able to push it away again. And he didn’t want to. Link felt like he’d reached the summit of a mountain he didn’t realize he’d been climbing. Rhett had kissed him, and he wanted Rhett to kiss him.</p><p>Even after all this time, he still wants Rhett to kiss him.</p><p> </p><p>Their conversation trails off and Link watches Rhett, unabashedly naked, floating lazily on his back. The sun casts harsh shadows on them as it nearly dips below the horizon. The treeline is already silhouetted in black, and Link knows they should be leaving soon before it’s too dark to get back across the river safely.</p><p>“Hey Rhett?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>There’s a pause before Link finally summons the courage to ask the question he’s been wanting to ask for so many years.</p><p>“Do you remember --”</p><p>Rhett replies before Link is able to finish asking the question. “Yeah.” </p><p>“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”</p><p>Rhett turns over and moves slowly through the water, not meeting Link’s gaze. “I know what you were going to say.”</p><p>Link furrows his brow doubtfully. “What then?”</p><p>“You wanna know if I remember kissing you.”</p><p>
  <i>Oh.</i>
</p><p>“Well do ya?” Link knows it’s a dumb question, but his mouth spits it out before his brain is able to reconsider.</p><p>“’Course I do.” Rhett reaches a shallower area and stops moving, still not meeting Link’s eye. He moves his hands through the water, making slow circles. “I think about it a lot.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Rhett glances up at him finally. “Do you?”</p><p>“I used to,” Link admits. “For a long time I did, until I made myself stop. But today kind of brought it all back.”</p><p>Rhett frowns slightly, nodding as if he’s resigning himself to something. </p><p>They simply look at each other, the immense weight of countless unspoken words hovering between them. The last bit of sunlight is disappearing and Link is both grateful for the growing darkness and cursing his inability to see Rhett clearly.</p><p>“Why didn’t you ever --” Link gestures between them. “Try again?”</p><p>“I didn’t know if you wanted me to,” Rhett sighs, “and I was scared.”</p><p>Link can’t bring himself to be upset about it because he was scared too, and before he can reply Rhett speaks again.</p><p>“I’m still scared, bo.”</p><p><i>Bo.</i> It’s a nickname Rhett doesn’t use much anymore. Usually only when they’ve been drinking and reminiscing and Rhett starts to get all introspective. Link knows that Rhett’s use of it has meaning in this moment.</p><p>“What are you scared of?”</p><p>“Everything, man.” Rhett lets out a huff of air and a pained laugh. “You, me. Our lives. Our families. Our careers. <i>This.</i> I’m scared of it, man. I’m scared of whatever it means.”</p><p>Seeing Rhett so unsure makes Link feel a bit braver, and it’s suddenly clear to him that that’s how they’ve always been. One is braver when the other one is scared, one is stronger when the other feels weak. For a moment he thinks he should’ve been braver all those years ago and kissed Rhett a second time, but it’s an unfair expectation to place on a seventeen year old. They were just kids back then.</p><p>“It means what it’s always meant,” Link replies. “The only difference is now we’re talkin’ about it. You scared to talk about it?”</p><p>Rhett nods, completely in silhouette against the fading pink of the sky, and Link swims a little closer. He’s never felt braver in his life.</p><p>“Then I’ll talk and you listen,” Link says quietly, waiting for a protest from Rhett and when one doesn’t come he continues.</p><p>“In my heart.. it was always you, man. For almost as long as I could remember it was you. It was you until I managed to convince myself that it wasn’t. I love my family and I can’t leave them. But I love you too, and I’m getting too old to care what anyone else thinks about it. I should’ve kissed you back then. I should’ve jumped with you. So I’m gonna kiss you now. Is that alright?”</p><p>“Yeah, bo,” Rhett replies, his voice soft in the darkness.</p><p>Link moves into the shallow area, his foot bumping Rhett’s on the bottom of the riverbed and he knows this feeling too, the little point of contact they both seek out in a crowd. A touch spot that keeps them connected when one or both are feeling unsure.</p><p>He places a hand on Rhett’s shoulder, tipping his own face up as Rhett dips his head down. It’s a gentle kiss, and suddenly Link is seventeen again, standing in the river, his lips soft against Rhett’s. He’s sure when they leave the river Rhett’s dad will yell at them for bringing the car back late, and tomorrow morning he’ll be up bright and early so he and Rhett can pass notes back and forth at church.</p><p>But then Rhett’s beard is tickling his lips, and his toes are bumping Link’s under the water, and Link is suddenly back in the present. Forty-one years old, naked in the river with his best friend, and they’re kissing. And in that moment it doesn’t need to be anything more, it’s enough for now. Everything else can wait for another time.</p><p>The moment is broken when Rhett laughs softly against his mouth. “Not as scary as I expected.”</p><p>And Link laughs too because suddenly it all seems so incredibly easy.</p><p> </p><p>They get out of the water, drying off a bit before putting their clothes back on. They talk in the darkness and their conversation feels lighter than it’s felt all day, like a weight has been lifted from them both.</p><p>Rhett kisses him again before they attempt the river crossing. And he even tells Link that he loves him.</p><p>Then they cross the river together, holding hands in the darkness.</p><p>They’re about halfway when Link can hear Rhett laughing softly to himself.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Rhett lifts his hand, bringing Link’s entwined fingers with him. “Interlock?”</p><p>“We’re boyfriends now,” Link replies. “But I gave you the dominant position.”</p><p>Even in the darkness, he knows Rhett is smiling.</p><p>“Or I could do the milker,” Link says, and Rhett bursts out laughing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <i></i></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
<i>And what if there were two</i><br/>
<i>Side by side in orbit</i><br/>
<i>Around the fairest sun?</i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i></i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i></i>
  </p>
  <p>
    <i>
The photograph reflects, every streetlight a reminder<br/>
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night..</i>
  </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm lallyloo on tumblr. I mostly post Rhink stuff and sometimes post fic.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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